GA-H97-Gaming 3 Sound Issues

[arras]

I have a fairly new build using the GA-H97-Gaming 3 motherboard and I was loving the board until the last week. 

Out of the blue, the sound keeps cutting in and out on me while playing games and listening to music.  The system has been up and running for a almost two months. 

I have tried uninstalling audio drivers thinking there could be a conflict somewhere, but nothing seems to work.  Do have a faulty motherboard?

Right now, I have uninstalled the Realtech driver and the Soundblaster X-Fi MB3 software and I am running with just basic Windows drivers (Windows 8.1 Pro).  It's still happening. 

Please any help would be most welcome.


System
GA-H97-Gaming 3
i5-4440
Crucial X100 256 SSD
8 gigs G.Skill 12800CL8D RAM
Nividia GTX 750 Ti
Windows 8.1 Pro

I have an optical cable running from the motherboard into a Vizio soundbar.

[autotech]

can you try different speakers to see if it is still happening? That will narrow it down.

Had that happen one time and it was a windows updates that did it. Took me a bit to figure out which one but I finally found it, Did you install any programs or windows updates?

[arras]

Okay, after uninstalling and reinstalling drivers, after swapping out sound cards (onboard to external), after changing cables and all, I found out my Vizio soundbar that I use as my speaker was overheating.

Not sure there is a solution for it. I tried blowing canned air into its vents. But it just may be that I've worn the poor thing out.

Anyway, it was the speaker and not the motherboard.